


Make a Wish

by marimoes



Series: Promptober 2019 [6]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Birthday, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 00:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20921258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marimoes/pseuds/marimoes
Summary: Morning light stirs Law awake, and when he breathes in, it nearly comes out a sob. Just a single one, small and timid in his throat. He knows what day it is without having to check for confirmation: it’s his birthday.





	Make a Wish

**Author's Note:**

> Day 6: Candle
> 
> The sixth of 31 short prompts for the month of October. To see the full list go [here!](https://noswordstyle.tumblr.com/post/187741793157/as-mentioned-earlier-this-month-im-doing-a)

Morning light stirs Law awake, and when he breathes in, it nearly comes out a sob. Just a single one, small and timid in his throat. He knows what day it is without having to check for confirmation: it’s his birthday. 

It’s the third one that has passed since he lost his family to the fall of Flevance. 

His chest tugs in pain at the thought and the feeling of lead weighs heavy in his bones. How he wishes he could be done already. Thirteen years of life...for this? It doesn’t seem fair at all. 

Cora-san stirs next to him, the giant disaster of a man turned caretaker, and Law feels himself smile a little. One that’s quickly pulled off his face with a cough. A cough that wakes Cora-san. 

“O-ohaa-h, Law! Law, are you ok?” Cora-san stutters sitting up, nearly smacking himself in the face on a low hanging branch. “Do you have a fever? Can you breathe?” 

Law furrows his brows at the concern. The realization sinking in daily that one day he’ll be gone, and Cora-san will be left. Sad, possibly, all because of him. 

“I’m fine. Go back to sleep, I’ll make food.” Law grumbles and struggles to push himself up to stand. 

Cora-san can see the weakness in Law, and he knows it; legs that buckle under any pressure, sweat collecting on his neck. Law wipes at his skin with his sleeve and curses under his breath, eyes already scanning for something to spark a fire on. 

“Grumpy, huh? Well, I guess I remember being a little snippy when I was twelve, too.” Cora-san mutters thoughtfully, now sitting all the way up. His legs crossed and tucked in a way that Law can’t imagine is comfortable for the massive man, but still, it’s how he sits. 

“I’m not twelve.” Law hisses and bites his tongue when Cora-san’s eyes light up. 

Instead of launching into his normal attack of words and touching, Cora-san is quiet. He simply stands up, his long limbs seemingly going on forever, and Law looks up at him. He hums and Law feels his stomach stir. 

A quiet Cora-san is far more dangerous than anything else — he has proof of that. 

“I need to run to the city below for some supplies. We’re out of a few things, and we need to leave on a couple days journey to a city with a hospital I’ve heard about...tonight. So just — stay here, and don’t cause trouble.” 

Law narrows his eyes, but nods, watching Cora-san slip down the hill. Literally, falling and tumbling down the bank until the clumsy man regains his footing. It makes Law forget for a moment, and lets a laugh slip between his lips before it turns into a cough. 

He lays back down after he gets the fire started, and he’s not sure when he fell asleep, but when he wakes Cora-san is back. Arms holding a large brown bag with the contents hidden inside. Law doesn’t like that. 

“Alright!” Cora-san says, plopping back down in front of Law all at once, nearly letting the bag fall from his hands, “I got things.” 

“I would hope so, you said you were going _to_.” Law fusses and feels his voice crack, a shift of a whine up, and he winces. 

Cora-san’s lips pull tight with a held laugh, and instead of focusing on the poor pubescent boy in front of him, he starts to take things out of the bag. He stills, with one hand holding something just below the bag’s edge. 

“Close your eyes, Law. I have a surprise.” Cora-san whispers, and Law abides, not because he really wants to but because things are always easier if he plays along. 

Law closes his eyes and feels Cora-san’s hands pull his out in front of him. Flat and open, like a small splotchy shelf. They stay empty for a moment and Law wonders if Cora-san is just messing with him, until the bag again rustles, and suddenly something is placed in them. 

“You can open them now!” Cora-san says, excitement coloring his voice, and Law already knows what his face looks like. 

Law’s eyes open as his hands curl around the object within them. It’s a book. No, it’s not just _any_ book, it’s the newest set of the Sora Adventures. The bound kind! With extra stories and articles, each page now colored and clean, not torn from being found in the gutter.

These are expensive.

“Cora-san,” Law starts to argue, drawing his eyes from his gently shaking hands back up to the man before him, but is stopped halfway by something else in his vision. 

Held in Cora-san’s hands is a small cake. The icing is smeared from the travel back, leaving some to be shown beneath, and Law can see it’s not cake at all. It’s...fruit?

“You don’t like bread, and I didn’t know if that extended to cake, and I didn’t want to get you something you wouldn’t eat on your birthday, so — fruit...cake?” Cora-san’s words stumble out with a nervous smile, all while Law stares. “It’s watermelon. The only one hearty enough to actually stay iced, it’s probably gross bu-”

“Thank you!” Law says, voice strained to be loud but still it shakes, and then again, softer, “Thank you, Cora-san.”

Tears prick at Cora-san’s eyes and Law instantly regrets saying anything. He hates watching him cry. The large man is always so loud and dramatic, it’s a wonder he didn’t get found out years ago by Doflamingo, but still, Law smiles. 

“I’ve got candles for you too, if I could, just, find it.” Cora-san grumbles digging in the bag and his hand comes back with a small pack of candles. 

Placing them carefully, Cora-san pushes thirteen candles into the “cake” and Law feels his chest tighten with each one. _I won’t get a fourteenth one, will I?_ Law thinks, but doesn’t say it. Not to Cora-san who is lighting each one, nearly catching himself on fire in the process. 

“Alright, make a wish!” Cora-san cheers, and Law shakes his head. “Make a wish, Law! It’ll come true.” 

“Wishes don’t come true.” Law sighs and Cora-san’s eyes fall, leaving Law to roll his. “But I’ll make one, _just_ for you.” 

Law thinks as Cora-san now beams next to him. What does he want to wish for anyways? To live? To see fourteen? No, Law knows what he wants. 

Taking in a deep breath, he lets his wish build in his heart like a balloon slowly being blown up. All to come out when he blows out all of the candles. They flicker gently, but don’t relight, and Cora-san again cheers. His excitement nearly sending the fresh cake to the ground. 

“What did you wish for, Law?” Cora-san asks handing him a slice of watermelon. “I know if you tell me it won’t come true, but I think if I use Silence it won’t count, hm?” 

His smile is wide. Genuine. Eager. It makes Law’s stomach flip when he thinks about the words that entered his mind when he blew out the candles. Shaking his head with a full mouth, Cora-san groans but nods in understanding. 

“So long as you made a wish, and enjoy your presents, I’m happy. Happy Birthday, Law.” Cora-san sighs, his tone turning into that weirdly serious one Law has learned to hate. Yet, this time it’s not quite that. It’s still happy. 

Laid down to sleep that night, Cora-san is snoring softly. His large black coat draped over him like a blanket, with arms wrapped tight around Law. He’s warm, gentle, and far more kind than Law thinks he deserves. Law, who is still awake with his eyes on the stars, and has his wish ringing in his head. 

_I wish to be with Cora-san for as long as I can._

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: @noswordstyle  
Twitter: @__moes__


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